Westfield boys’ basketball coach Bill Daley, center, talks to the officials as East Longmeadow coach Yusuf Abdul-Ali looks on Friday night in the Whip City. (Photo by Chris Putz)
WESTFIELD – Westfield’s shot at a league title got a bit tougher.
Suburban League foe East Longmeadow downed Westfield 63-45 in a boys’ basketball game on Friday night to remain unbeaten (4-0) in league play. The hometown Bombers, who are in the midst of a 9-game, 15-day stretch, fell to 7-4 overall, 1-3 league.
“We just can’t get in a groove,” Westfield coach Bill Daley said. “We don’t have any consistency.”
Westfield opened the week with success, defeating Longmeadow and Chicopee Comp. But East Longmeadow, led by first-year head coach Yusuf Abdul-Ali, a former 1,000 point scorer for New Leadership (2004), exploded for an 18-4 run over the final four minutes to secure the victory.
“We struggled a little bit offensively,” coach Daley said.
Westfield rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to pull within four, 45-41, with about four minutes remaining. East Longmeadow hit a 3-pointer, the Bombers turned over the ball on their next possession, and the Spartans made a 2 to quickly gain a 9-point advantage.
Sam Blake finished with a game-high 21 points for East Longmeadow. Devin Wells led Westfield with 17, while Tim Donahue had 10.
“They’re a veteran team,” Daley said of the Spartans. “They were a little bit more physical. We’ll bounce back.”
St. Mary 59, Pathfinder 42
Matt Plasse (20 points) and Anthony Garde (11) led St. Mary offensively. Brendan Mickalay finished with eight points for the Saints (11-3, 8-1), and Justin Crosby had six.
Palmer 86, Gateway 43
Gateway’s Calvin Dowers scored a team-high 19 points, and teammate Curtis Dowers delivered on defense, shutting down Palmer’s Kamil Stasiowski. Stasiowski (13 points) opened with four 3s before the Gators put Curtis on him and shut him down.
Zach Russo led Palmer with 16 points.
GIRLS’ HOOPS
Monson 68, Southwick-Tolland 30
Morgan Harriman and Lindsay Wilcox led Southwick with six points apiece. The Rams held the Monson Mustangs to just 23 points in the second half, after putting up 45 in the first half.
“This will help (us) when it comes to league time,” Southwick coach Mike Gill said of the tough competition. “We played hard for 32 minutes … We’re looking forward to (next) week.”
JV GIRLS’ HOOPS
Monson 33, Southwick 29
Sabrina Provost was Southwick’s offensive player of the game, scoring eight.
